#anyway. like i said i'll be coherent sometime lmao.

[widowshill]

i'm going to eventually write up something coherent about why i think liz makes sense as a post wwii queer woman / the reverberations in her own Myth. but in the meantime: excerpts from this article.

[moccabunie]

things I've learned after a year writing fanfiction

This is a post from a non-writer who, apparently, now writes (❓) And this is a little crazy to me, considering that a year ago writing less than 1k decent words took a lot of effort. But this year I have completed a +100k project. (It's still difficult, though.)

I found out that the more I wrote, the easier it was to get into the story. So I think that being captivated by my own story has made a lot. I am an eager fanfiction reader, but I had yet to really try to write something on my own.

That was until I got hyper-fixated on three characters and wrote a small story about them sharing a room, and it was one of the funniest and most rewarding things I've done. So I was like "oh, maybe I can try to imagine stories I would like to read?"

(1) story one - a bird told me to wait

The first thing I considered was to make it completely self-indulging. The second was to make it as evocative as possible, not only telling what was happening. I like sensations and emotions, so I really wanted to write things I would like to feel as a reader. I wrote this story, and after that, I added a second longer part because I was enjoying it a lot. I used to doodle about the characters and make small annotations about their dynamics, but there wasn't really a lot of planning here.

(2) story two - beneath the moonlight

My second attempt was a three-chapter story (not so distant from the previous one that can be read as three parts too). But for this one, I wanted to challenge myself because I wanted to explore new themes and tropes, so I made a brief list of the things that should appear here. (but honestly, I just wanted to write a soft mating bite scene lmao, because I was super into a/b/o at that time.) I used keep notes app this time.

I barely showed explicit themes here but I got to enjoy the story anyway. This one wasn't difficult to write because I felt familiar with the characters. It's a light story but these 20k words gave me the courage to take a step further. I said to myself

"stop being a coward. you have enjoyed this. keep writing."

(3) story three - lucid dreams

This one was planned for four or five chapters, quite in the same line as beneath the moonlight. But, and the keyword is planned, it became a full 13 chapters as I developed the story and the characters. If I wanted it to be coherent then I needed to explain the things, build the context, and introduce the world. But it was also an experimental work. I took my notebook and listed the new things I wanted to try, such as - write in past tense - write first and edit later

my process was something like this • imagine random scenarios with pretty imagery as I listened to music • doodling the characters doing things so I didn't forget • open the notes app to write random sentences and dialogues in the middle of the night, I'll find a place for them later • dream about the story and daydream about the story

as for the physical notebook, I have scribbled A LOT there during the writing process.

(a little bit chaotic but functional enough)

One thing I wanted to keep in mind was the evolution of the characters, or in other words, how they were gonna be at the start and the end of the story. And this made things a lot simpler because it gave me an insight that was helpful whenever I had to decide what kind of decisions the characters would make along the story.

Parallelly, I was aware of my narrative flaws, as well as there was a lot of vocabulary and grammar that would escape me in a different language. So I used the notebook to do writing research. Some of my pages were like "how to write action scenes," or "tips for flat scenes." Whenever I felt blocked I read again these pages.

I'm going to copy down here some tips that were useful during the writing block days.

• read another book or fic you like, since sometimes, getting yourself caught by another writer's style can help you to flow through your own. • scroll on pinterest and try to find pictures that capture the vibe of your story, maybe try to describe them or setting a scene in a similar environment that you can see? • changing the setting (for example, day to night, or sun to rain) can add more variants and ambiental tools to play with. • or, changing the character's pov. maybe a scene feels flat because it's narrated by the wrong character. • use objects, not just the characters.

(4) finishing a story

To have an insight into the plot, I wrote the main scenes in really short sentences. That was useful for the first chapters, but suddenly I had 70K words of the story and a lot of details to track. Frequently I had to split chapters into two parts because the "short sentence" became a very long scene. See this comparison: the scenes' guide in the last chapters usually are fragmented into shorter scenes. That's how I avoided losing my mind as I wrote (?)

These are a few tips that were useful to me during this last part.

• write the important plot points as they are mentioned so you can come back to them later and don't forget about them. • keep a scrip to annotate significant things about the characters to make the story consistent. • notion pages is a great place to make inspo boards (usually I added 4 pictures for each scene). During the last chapter, I used the to-do list tool to keep track of the closed story points and the things that were yet to happen • list some of your favourite past scenes, those that have been nice to write, so you can pursue the same vibe again.

The last two months writing the fic I joined the nanowrimo to keep myself motivated but also to have an impulse. My only goal was getting the habit of writing everyday, not minding how many words (usually it was around 400-600 daily). I ended that month with 16k added on my wordcount (to me, that was a lot!). Since I enjoyed that little challenge, I did the same on the next month, resulting in finishing the fic :)

The most important thing during this time was remembering myself from time to time why I am doing this. Let me say I am an utter perfectionist, so I would easily get trapped in making-the-story-perfect, which would end in a writing block. So each time this happened I repeated to myself that I didn't want to write a good story. I just wanted to enjoy and have fun while writing a story, so I should write only things I enjoy. And this simple thing was incredibly helpful whenever I wasn't able to continue a scene.

I think that this is what most writers say, but now I have come to understand that it's true: just have fun. Write what you wanna read.

(5) the next story - requiem of the sleepless

This would be the third part of my first fic. I miss these unhinged boys and I have a little draft of (unholy) things I want to happen to them! Now I want to unlearn everything I know. I want this story to be zero planned, I just want to ~feel~ the characters and make a lot of random things happen. This is about not forgetting why I started, so here I am again.

Being a non-writer writing.

thank you for reading ♡ 

[optiwashere]

I didn't know how to comment on AO3 but you left a handy link to a website I'm far more familiar with so I thank you that much. But I really love how you weave such joy into your works. It's not always an innocent wholesome type of happiness but no matter the narrative or series there's this underlying undying hope and understanding that usually gets glossed over in fanfic I've read. It's hard to explain but examples would be the clear communication and boundaries between how you write Karlach and Shadowheart. Or the inherent strength of Shadowheart slowly developing and growing through the help of Asheera. Or (my fave) the brief touches of kindness and longing and pain? Between Violetta and Shadowheart.

There's an unyielding kindness in the universes that you write and I don't know how to properly express it coherently. But I do want to thank you very much for such loving narratives :3🏳️‍⚧️

Aww anonnnnnnnn 💜 That's so fucking sweet of you to say! Thank you! All this put a huge smile on my face.

What you're talking about is one of those elements of writing that is intrinsic to nearly everything I write. There's fics where I actively go against it, of course, but those extreme fics are definitely in the minority (sorry @apoptotique lmao) and I usually wind up circling back to these emotions in everything anyways.

I hope that people feel the joy I have writing these characters in what I make. Sometimes it's like you said, it's not always wholesome but I do like to keep the dose of hope alive and well even if it comes around in an angst-riddled story or even just very filthy smut.

You're making me blush reading the breakdowns of those relationships though. I love writing the three you called out explicitly for those kinds of stories that I get to write, and for the exact reasons that you've recognized in them.

What I write hinges on compassion and empathy as vital to the human experience. But I don't want to get too hifalutin with my fanfiction so I'll just say — thank you for catching those details, and I love that you love them, and I love writing all these women in love in their different universes. Love.

P.S.

In the future, if you want to comment on AO3 (I appreciate the anon messages a whole lot as well, don't get me wrong!) you can scroll to the bottom of the chapter page and you should see something like this:

(the black box is the list of people that've kudosed, which is the equivalent of liking a YT video or something)

And all you have to do is enter a guest name and a guest email (we do not see your email as AO3 users!) and then you can enter your comment!

[lavendertea489]

Hear me out. These songs are all flower husband coded. Ju- just hear me out.

Spoilers for 3rd life below

Dandelions: It's fairly self explanatory. It talk about flowers and longing so my brain went "aah yes, flower husbands, mhm yes". (Literally the least in depth one.-) Wine Red: OK. Listen. Jimmy's final death was by a bow. He was shot. First line of the song? "Who shot that arrow in your throat?" Grated the next line is "Who missed the crimson apple?" implying the archer was aiming at a different target (now theoretically this *could* be counted as Scar but it's unlikely). But in my opinions these lines fit fh the most: "The sea is wine red, this is the death of beauty, the doves have died, the lovers have lied." Cloud 9: This song is just so bubbly and romantic. It's sweet and happy. I imagine it would be 3L!Jimmy singing it. "Lately, all I feel is bad and bruised, tired of tripping on my shoes." Definetly 3L!JImmy coded. He died twice in an episode lmao. "Eventually when we fade eventually, I'm nothing, you will always be my favorite form of loving.". This reminds me of the afterlife scene Scott shows at the end of his finale. It's sweet, they know it won't last, but they love each other anyways. "When I start to tumble from the sky, you remind me how to fly" Canary curse anyone? Kindergarten: It sweet it soft it giving butterflies in the stomach. " 'Cause this kindergarten crush has got my stomach all twisted, sweeter than sugar, lover, I'm addicted". This is so sweet. Also the fact that it's a 'kindergarten crush' gives the notion of a temporary situation. As if it won't last due to maturing/aging. Coffee Breath: Okay once again this is 3L!JImmy singing. "You've got those big blue eyes, drive me crazy" is him singing about Scott. "And you smell so sweet, like fresh-picked daisies." Scott is the cutesy flower guy who works on the base the most in terms of aesthetics. "And I watched you break, like glass, you shatter, said it's my mistake, I make things harder". Ok so the breaking like glass is the loss of lives right? But hear me out. It's actually Scott singing that bit. It refernces breaking twice which could be translated to the loss of two lives. Perhaps within a single episode. And then the last mistake is Scott talking about Jimmy feeling bad that he died so quickly. And let's ne honest 'supposedly' a red an green pairing wouldn't be easy (we all know how that ended). "And in our separate worlds, we sleep alone." ONe could interpret this as many things. The red/green divide, just their seperate houses, or their different kingdoms in empires. This has been my funky little ramble. I'll be so honest with you I have no idea if this actually is coherent at all. But I decided to post something non-art. P.S. If you like this, I may do some more songs sometime within the next few days. In the meantime you should go listen to these songs

[eshithepetty]

don't feel the need to reply to this but THANK YOU so much for your ritsu meta, i always love reading when you post and even if i don't always agree 100% you have such amazing and insightful meta about mp100, especially ritsu. like ritsu as a character resonated with me SO MUCH and i could see myself in him and i actually like that he snapped because of all the pressure and loneliness he was under, because it felt so realistic to me. and i really do think that even if it's lighthearted, the fandom DOES mischaracterize him a lot and that he's not just emo or angsty or violent, and it's really depressing to see people depict ritsu as like... depressed, jealous, making stupid decisions, mean, etc ALL the time. it honestly gets super frustrating... i guess i just want to say that i really appreciate when people do take the time to analyze his character and see his good traits, and that i am really grateful to you for like, continuing to treat every mp100 character with respect

Yesss,,, you're so right anon actually. Every character in mp100 gets flanderized by the fandom from time to time, that will just happen with fandoms, and with mp100 it's an especially easy issue to fall into because... like. As that one post by scribe said, mp100's characters work on contradictions, and people aren't usually well versed in working with that. but with Ritsu, it does seem to paint him in a rather negative light, huh? Those aspects of his character do exist, but it does get frustrating when, as I've said before, they're the only ones people focus on to a surface level. I'm not gonna be the most coherent rn cause I hadn't been able to sleep all night (not related to anything, my sleep schedule's just fucked lmao), but I really feel you anon on that. I see a lot of myself and my sibling in Ritsu (and Mob), and so I guess that's why it sometimes hurts for me too - to see people dismissing him as just 'angry' and 'irrational', to see his struggles boiled down to him just being dramatic. I'm not gonna get into it, and I'm aware this is my own personal baggage to work through, but yeah.

I will say, though, I find the comments about how silly it is for Ritsu to be angsting over people 'complimenting him' especially funny 😭 bro you dont even know how much people lauding you over your sibling while you both are actually in extreme distress and can't actually communicate enough to help each other can fuck you up lmao

Anyways!!! Thank you for that last comment as well <33 I'm not a very funny person, or a very active part of the fandom, or someone who does well in forging connections and being entertaining, but I do try my best to always understand these characters and express how I feel about them. That's my way of having fun with shows ig, I really like diving deep into these things and having discussions with people and losing my mind over little funny guys (my friends on discord will be able to attest to this, based on how many inane rambles they've been subjected to. Hi Kegan and Saj if u happen to read this hdhsjhehe) So thank you for sending this ask as well, and allowing me to talk some more :)

I should be preparing for school now, though, so I'll end it here. Hope you have a good day/night anon, as well as everyone else reading this <3

[outlustings]

Soft, filthy sex with Val in the woods or somewhere else? I'm a sucker for Val in general tho so anything with them I'll love anyway lmao

(this sucks you have every right to come to my house and hit me over the head with a shovel lol i had lots of ideas but my brain couldn't put them together in a coherent way. no thoughts only val. butt stuff and dom/sub switcheroo shenanigans below the cut hshdhdbs.)

×

This wasn't supposed to be that kind of a hike in the woods, you thought to yourself as you lay beside Val on the prickly ground, pine needles and dried clay digging into your skin as you nuzzled against their neck in the dying light of the campfire.

Hot, heavy hands on every surface of your nude body, groping and cupping and stroking as Val kissed your neck, grinding into your thigh which was slung over their narrow hips. You writhed and moaned on the forest floor, your eyes shooting to the ink blue sky where millions of silvery stars hung over the two of you, lighting your naked bodies with the crescent moon. It felt like a ritual. A disgusting, filthy, heretic, blasphemous pagan ritual, making love underneath the stars like this, dirt sticking to your sweaty skin as your loins burned with need for Val, and Val only. You closed your eyes, inhaling Val's scent, rubbing their chest in slow circles, running your fingers over the stiff peaks of their pink nipples.

So tender. Val's loving lips on your neck and their throbbing need resting against your hip as you arched your ass into their exploring hand. It was heaven.

A particularly hard nip against your skin brought you back to your senses.

"Ouch," you whined, "Not so rough, angel."

Val sighed against the crook of your neck, licking the teeth marks that they had left on you.

"Sorry," Val mumbled.

You felt their finger tease the cleft of your ass.

"Wait," you lifted your upper body a bit and rummaged through a nearby satchel, retrieving a small glass vial and opening it with your teeth. Val watched adoringly.

"You remembered," they cocked their head, stroking your hair tenderly.

You grinned.

"Didn't forget what you said earlier today. About wanting to..." you trailed off and shoved the small bottle to Val's chest, feeling yourself blush.

"Thank you," Val kissed your lips sweetly, "For letting me."

You giggled.

"You better repay this sometime, you know that?" you smirked and eyed as Val poured slick oil on their hand and tossed the bottle to the satchel, where golden liquid spilled on the dusty forest floor.

You laid back next to Val on the ground and they attacked your lips with animalistic need, turning you slightly onto their chest so that their fingers could reach your backside.

You breathed in deeply, placing sloppy kisses on Val's face as they peeked over your shoulder to see their target. There.

"Relax," Val muttered in your ear as you hissed through your teeth, feeling their warm finger rub against the tightness between your cheeks, "Relax, my love."

You felt their tongue lave against the shell of your ear and you shuddered, pulling them closer to you by the back of their neck, feeling their breath hitch as the tight ring of muscle gave way and you were suddenly feeling so, so full. You sighed, gripping Val's wrist and rocking their hand deeper into you. They chuckled as you felt their knuckle press against stretched, burning skin as you ground yourself slowly on their hand.

"Yes, that's it," their soft voice cooed into your ear and you felt their plump, warm lips spread into a devilish grin as pale fingers pumped in and out of your asshole, the lube squelching lewdly in the cooling night air as you sighed and moaned and rolled your hips, "Fuck yourself on my fingers - ah, like that," a sloppy kiss against your temple and you craned your neck to kiss those pink, glistening lips. Val sighed into your mouth.

You stroked the sides of their body, feeling dirt and lichen stick to their soft, porcelain skin and wrenched yourself up from the ground and onto their lap, your mouth still firmly attached to Val's as the finger inside you slipped out and Val grunted into your mouth, grinding their narrow hips up into you as you sat on them, hunched over their slim form, devouring the taste of their lips like a hungry animal. Your hips ground needily against their jutting hipbones and Val moaned into your mouth. You felt the cool, damp air against your asshole and squealed into Val's mouth as they gave your ass a firm smack.

"Hmm-h," Val hummed against your tongue, teeth clicking against yours as they stroked the tender flesh of your backside. Pulling away from you, Val eyed you with glinting, predatory eyes, "Such a good slut for me."

"Hit me again," you heard yourself say, grinding your hips down again to relieve the pressure building inside you, your own hand reaching behind your back to replace the emptiness inside your ass but Val swatted your hand away and gave a firm slap to your butt, bucking their hips up into you, grinning at the choked moan you let out of your constricting throat.

"So filthy," Val whispered, rubbing your ass with both hands, "Grinding on me. Harlot."

Val threw their head back and moaned as you slid your hands to their throat, feeling hot, pulsing flesh underneath. You knew how much Val liked to be choked, and felt their throbbing flesh against your ass as you lifted your hips up and slammed them down with ferocious force, digging your thumbs into their slender neck.

"What was that?" you grinned as Val gripped your hips, pushing you down on their slick arousal, moaning pitifully, "You wanna act all tough, Val? Look at you," you mocked affectionately, loving how the flush on Val's cheeks deepened.

You leaned down to place a searing kiss on their lips. Soft, slippery muscle invaded your mouth as Val huffed into your mouth.

You leaned down to stroke at yourself.

"Wait," Val panted.

You felt their left hand leave your hip and Val licked their fingers and shoved them between your legs, stroking at you. You let out a sigh as little jolts of pleasure raced through you.

"Slut," Val grinned.

You gripped their cheeks, squishing them, digging your finger into the space between their jaws.

"Open your mouth."

Val obeyed, the stars of the night sky in their eyes as they parted their plump, pink lips, their tongue flicking out obscenely as you leaned down and spat inside Val's mouth. Val moaned throatily, stroking your sex faster and faster as you let go of their face and splayed your palms on their slim, heaving chest.

"Wanna fuck you," Val mumbled, bucking up into you, "Fuck your ass..."

You leaned back, settling your weight on Val's thighs and ground your own arousal against theirs. You thumbed at the leaking glans, biting the inside of your cheek as Val moaned again.

"Say please," you winked.

Val growled in frustration.

"No. Fuck me now," Val reached for your throat but you snatched their thin wrists and held them with a grin.

"Say it, Val," you pressed a kiss to the soft skin inside their wrist, little purple spider veins skittering across porcelain, alive with a thundering pulse.

Your hand reached down to stroke at the hardness underneath you, guiding it towards your slick asshole. Val choked out a moan.

"Please," they whispered feverishly, "Please, please, please..."

You bent down to place a kiss on Val's nose as you settled your hips down slowly, sighing at the divine, comfortable stretch, welcoming the pulsing, slick flesh inside your entrance. Val moaned, their hips bucking into your butt as they buried their need inside, to the hilt and you gasped.

"Needy bitch," you smiled and began bucking down on the shallow thrusts from Val as they dug their fingers into your hips once again, spreading you wider, humping into you with desperate whines.

"Fuck, you're tight," Val hissed, their lips parted as you bounced your ass on their lap, feeling the tip of their phallus jerk against your fleshy walls. You groaned, "That's it. Fuck it," Val groaned, burying themselves up to the hilt inside your clenching asshole.

You hummed, feeling the stinging subside fully, the feeling replaced with slippery pangs and jolts of pleasure rattling your pelvis as you rode Val, loud moans spilling from your lips.

"Yes," Val panted, "Let them hear you. Let the forest hear how good I fuck you."

You whined, rolling your hips as Val reached down between your legs, stroking at you.

"Fuck, Val," you hissed as Val rutted up into you, against you. You felt so full yet the fullness felt somehow delicate. Something unique to Val. Tender. You moaned as Val slapped your ass again.

"Oh fuck," Val sighed, their thrusts growing erratic as they bounced you on their lap, "Love..."

You felt Val twitch and tremble and seize underneath you, a throaty roar from your lover mingling with the cawing of startled crows somewhere nearby as you rode Val to completion, feeling a gush of sweet, warm fluid hit your ass as Val pulled you into their arms, grinding feverishly against you and you laughed and laughed with affection as Val cried against you and everything felt so, so good, and so wrong and filthy as you core clenched around air and you felt Val slip out of you with a sob. The night felt warm again.

                                     ×

You tossed a log into the crackling campfire and turned your body to Val, nuzzling against them underneath the thin blanket draped over your shoulders. Sitting near the fire, legs intertwined, trying to catch your breath and cuddling in your little afterglow.

"Did you come?" Val muttered against your lips. You shook your head very slightly, feeling how the viscous liquid between your legs was starting to cool in the night air. You felt an overwhelming tiredness wash over you, your eyes flickering over to the rudimentary tent in the corner of the clearing.

"Mm-mh, but it doesn't really mat-..."

Before you could finish your sentence, Val had slammed you on your back to the ground. You felt like the wind was knocked out of you, "Hey! Val! What the f-...?"

"You didn't come," Val's eyes were glinting mischievously again as they lifted your legs on their slim shoulders, "We'll have to remedy that."

You blushed furiously. This was going to be a long night.

"Okay, but don't throw me around like that," you huffed sternly as you felt Val's hot breath ghost over the tender flesh of your inner thigh, "I'm not some - oh..." you moaned, feeling Val lick a long, impossibly wet line against your sex, making you shudder.

"You were saying?" Val grinned, moving down to your backside.

"Bitch," you grumbled and Val laughed hoarsely, before shutting you up with another maneuver that twisted the heat in your gut into an impossible spiral of desire. You closed your eyes, but the stars in the sky didn't leave your vision.

×

(kill me l0l)

[ari-shipping-stuff]

Nuts and Volts Week

Day One

Modern AU

———

never thought this would be my first post lmao

just note, if any of the characters in these oneshots are ooc, please don't hurt me bc it's definitely my first time writing them

Please enjoy my self-indulgent fic—

———

Arthur Watts never liked his office.

It was just… so basic. Too open. Maybe a little bright. And he had much preferred the basement. The dark, cool basement with no plastic plants, no ugly blue wallpapers.. No windows for peeping. His office, meanwhile, had all that. It wasn't even soundproof. But nonetheless, what Arthur did like was his job.

From the whirring of the gears, the clinking of steel, even when it would sometimes combust in his face. It didn't change the fact that he'd devoted his entire life into creating these machines.

Now they're going to be taken from him.

He forced his bag shut.

Ripped apart.

He gritted his teeth.

Handed over to that amateur Polendina in Atlas. His creations. Given away in mere parts. All because he testified. Now it was more than his machines he was going to lose.

Carelessly, he tossed his bag onto the glass table, hoping it would break.

He began pacing.

His shoes clacked against the perfectly polished white tiles. Cleaned this morning for the next person to work in this godforsaken office.

He stepped over several boxes, feeling too drained to even push them aside. It was as if his chest was hollow; empty. His heart gripped in the lonely hands of nothingness.

Arthur was usually a fast-paced man. Quick and efficient. Never too tired to miss any deadlines. He'd been first to finish his project out of all four competitors, giving him an extra month in the office to fiddle around and make random machines for fun. He was just so certain he'd be chosen.

But fate decided to be stupid and cruel. All his poor machines were going to take the fall now.

If there was one sentimental bone in this man's body, it would be there for the sole purpose of his work. He hated to admit he didn't want to part with these boxes or this room.

His earpiece buzzed.

"Would you quit pushing? I'd prefer you gone sooner rather than later, Arthur."

"Only my friends call me that, Cinder."

"And you have none. What's your point?"

Cinder Fall may have been an insufferable know-it-all and should have been fired instead of him, and a million different retorts could be days here. But Arthur didn't have the energy.

When she spoke again, the smirk was evident in her voice.

"I'll be sending a colleague to quicken the process. Toodles."

Arthur's jaw clenched. If only he could march into her office and give her a piece of his mind. Or a smack. Or a bullet to the mouth. Anything to shut her up, really.

There was static. Then the sound cut. It was just him and the boxes again.. And her camera in the back of the room.

Arthur sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He opened a drawer in the corner and pulled out some masking tape. Call it childish, but knowing that Cinder was watching him was.. Unnerving information.

Reaching towards the camera, he tore out a good amount of tape and covered the camera. His earpiece buzzed again.

"Arthur Watts—"

"Don't worry, Cinder, dear," Arthur smirked, falling back down to his regular height. "I'll try not to steal anything."

With that, he pulled the earpiece out and left it on the table. He turned back to the boxes.

There was a man in the doorway.

Arthur jumped back, eyebrows raised.

The man was tall, leaning leisurely against the doorframe. Stemming from his head was a long, dark braid. He fiddled with it in one hand. His smile was small, but tight and pulled back. Like he was suppressing laughter.

Arthur raised a brow, straightening himself.

"Callows," he said uncertainly. Like trying out a new word. "Right, why are you smiling?"

The grin broke across his colleague's face. He pushed himself off the doorframe, shrugging.

"Oh, nothing." he replied.

"And just how long were you standing there..?"

"Oh, not long. But.." he shook his head. "Just long enough to witness your little work of child's play there."

"I—"

"Personally, I would've broken it."

Arthur blinked at him.

Tyrian Callows was a mystery. All everyone knew about him was scarce common knowledge. Arachnologist. Entomologist. Herpetologist. Probably a serial killer in his free time. Possibly lived in his office. He might've been as work-obsessed as Arthur.

Despite this, they weren't friends. This was the first time they've spoken. Arthur found the timing of it all hilariously ironic. But now that they have finally met, he only had one thing to say—

Tyrian was an oddball. He pranced around the room, practically a child playing hopscotch. What, with his wild grin and the little 'ooh's and 'ahh's he made as he glanced into each box.

Arthur closed the door, clearing his throat.

"Cinder sent you, yes?"

"Mhm!"

Arthur blinked at the pure oddity of a man as he made himself comfortable on the glass table. Cross-legged, even.

And he remained seated.

Staring forward. Smiling calmly.

Blinking.

As you do.

Arthur cleared his throat.

"Yees, ol buddy, old pal?"

Arthur blinked.

"And you're just going to sit there."

"Apparently."

"What?"

Tyrian seemed to find this funny. He laughed. Loudly, but genuinely. Not entirely hysterical, but amused. Arthur didn't like that.

Cinder was amused when she taunted him. Ironwood was amused when Pietro Polendina stole what was his. Salem was amused as she fired him for speaking the simple truth.

Amused was mocking. Taunting. Condescending.

Tyrian doubled over, clutching his stomach. He seemed to laugh harder as Arthur glared at him, clenching his fists until there was blood between his fingernails. But he held up a hand, as if to say 'wait, don't murder me yet.'

So despite how good it would feel to punch his apparent psychopath, he decided to wait.

After a few whole minutes of laughter, it finally managed to cease. Tyrian let out a contented sigh, as if stuffed from a hearty meal.

Arthur crossed his arms and tapped his good impatiently.

"Well?" he raised an eyebrow.

Tyrian perked up, confused for a second.

"Wh-what? Oh. Right. That." he chuckled.

He uncrossed his legs, propping his elbows on his knees. He even steepled his fingers, for God's sake.

"You see, Dr. Watts, I get it."

Arthur waited.

".. You.. Get it."

"See, now you're getting it!" Tyrian clapped his hands together joyfully.

Arthur furrowed his brows at his colleague. Was this a joke? If he stared at Tyrian like this long enough, would he laugh it off, apologize, and finally explain properly? Maybe even turn sane as a bonus?

But when he started to smile and stare again, Arthur found his answer.

He didn't like it.

"I have had enough of you, Callows!" he snarled, jabbing a finger at Tyrian's chest. "Just give me a straight, coherent answer! If not, you're free to leave. It's clear you've no intention to help anyways."

Tyrian slumped, a blank expression on his face.

"So.. You don't want to cherish the time you have left with your machines?"

Arthur's posture faltered. He lowered his finger slightly.

"Wh-what?"

Tyrian shrugged, fiddling with his fingers.

"Well, I'd assumed you loved your job as much as I love mine," he paused, tapping his index fingers together. "So I also assumed you wouldn't want to part with your little machines for as long as possible."

Arthur put down his finger.

"I mean, I wouldn't want to part with Larry." Tyrian continued.

"Larry."

"My oldest scorpion. Lost his tail four weeks ago. He'll be gone in seven months without it now."

"Oh.."

"Yeah."

".. I'm sorry about that."

"Thanks. No need."

Now it was Arthur's turn to stare.

Tyrian shrugged twice. After a pause, he spoke up again.

"Fall, Rainart, even young Emerald and Mercury all have ulterior motives to accomplish once they joined this laboratory. But.. You and I, we genuinely enjoy what we do here. You love making your little machines, and I love my little venomous animals down in the basement."

Arthur hated to admit it. He really did. But somehow, this hysterical man-child really did get it.

He finally relaxed, deciding to speak up this time.

".. Venomous animals, you say?"

"Mhm!"

"Interesting. I don't suppose you could tell me all about it while we slowly.. move out the boxes?"

"Really?"

"Yes, of course. But please, do take your time."

Tyrian hopped off the table, saluting joyfully.

Arthur picked up the box closest to his feet, a smile playing on his lips. He turned the knob, about to open the door. But then he frowned.

"Wait, you own the basement?"

———

aight, so.. if you liked this, yay! bc this is gonna be the universe i'm writing in for the rest of the week!

thanks for reading my trash—

- ari